TEHRAN (FNA)- The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) unveiled a new shoulder-launched weapon named Arash and a home-made sniper rifle dubbed Siyavash.The IRGCs combat weapons were put on display during a visit by IRGC Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari to an exhibition of the latest military achievements of the IRGC Ground Forces Research and Self-Sufficiency Jihad Organization in Tehran on Monday.
Arash is a 20mm shoulder-launched weapon. Arash is an anti-helicopter weapon system, but it can also destroy land and logistic targets with maximum precision. The weapon system can destroy targets within the range of 1,800 meters.
The high-precision rocket-launcher is a semi-automatic weapon and has no foreign rival, meaning that it is unique in type.
Siyavash is a very light sniper rifle designed and manufactured fully domestically. It weighs 6.5 kilograms while fully loaded with its five-bullet magazine. The rifle is now manufactured on a limited industrial scale.
Iran has made major breakthroughs in arms production in the last three decades. Tehran launched an arms development program during the 1980-88 Iraqi imposed war on Iran to compensate for a US weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and fighter planes.
Yet, Iranian officials have always stressed that the country's military and arms programs serve defensive purposes and should not be perceived as a threat to any other country.
In February, the IRGC test-fired a shoulder-launched weapon with the capability of shooting down choppers in its massive wargames, codenamed Payambar-e Azam 8 (The Great Prophet 8), in Southern Iran.
Elaborating on the missions of the drills, Spokesman of the Wargames General Hamid Sarkheili told reporters that the new shoulder-launched anti-chopper weapons which have been designed and produced by the IRGC's local experts would be delivered to the operating units in the wargames.
"The 20-mm shoulder-launched missile is an anti-chopper weapon which can hit targets from a distance of 1,400 meters," Sarkheili stated.
The commander noted that the new missile launcher is unique and has no foreign rival.
The IRGC drills are aimed at maintaining and improving the combat preparedness of the IRGC Ground Forces, testing the latest combat systems of the IRGC Ground Force and exercising different asymmetric warfare tactics.
By Fars News Agency
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